Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Extension of the Ivory Act 2018

Lord Benyon: My Right Honourable friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Thérèse Coffey) has made the following Statement.Today the Government is announcing it will extend the Ivory Act 2018 to hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, killer whale (orca) and sperm whale, delivering on a key animal welfare manifesto commitment. These species are set to receive greater legal protections under the UK’s world-leading ban on importing, exporting and dealing in items containing ivory.Putting the UK at the forefront of global conservation efforts, today’s consultation response confirms plans to extend the Ivory Act 2018 to ban all dealing in ivory from these species, including imports and exports.The Ivory Act is one of the toughest bans on elephant ivory sales in the world, with some of the strongest enforcement measures. Those found guilty of breaching the ban face tough penalties including an unlimited fine or up to five years in jail.The five species are all listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES), which regulates their trade internationally, and hippopotamus, walrus and sperm whale are listed as vulnerable on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list.The announcement today comes following an extensive public consultation and with the one-year anniversary of the successful ivory ban approaching.The ban allows for a small number of exemptions with the digital ivory service allowing those who own ivory to register or apply for an exemption certificate. People will only need to register or certify items for the purposes of dealing in exempt items containing ivory. Those who own but are not planning to sell their ivory items do not need to register or certify them.Since 6 June 2022, there has been over 6,500 registrations and certificates issued for exempted items so that they continue to form part of our artistic and cultural heritage.

Cabinet Office

Data Sharing under the Digital Economy Act 2017

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: My Hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary, Alex Burghart MP, has today made the following statement:This Government is committed to transforming the delivery of public services, so that they are easier to use, joined-up and provide better value for money to the taxpayer. To this end, the Cabinet Office has today published the Government’s response to the public consultation on new data sharing regulations, which will help more people prove who they are online so that they can access the services they need simply and quickly.From January to March 2023, the Government consulted on draft regulations to improve data sharing so that people may more easily access public services online. The regulations would create a new objective under the Digital Economy Act 2017 for this purpose, allowing controlled data sharing between a number of public bodies already specified in the Act and with four additional organisations: the Cabinet Office, the Department for Transport, the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs, and the Disclosure and Barring Service. These public bodies either hold information that can be used to verify someone is who they say they are, and/or require the outcome of such checks in order to provide access to their services. The proposed legislation would enable data sharing between the specified organisations only for the purpose of helping someone confirm their identity, when they are requesting access to a government service online. All data sharing under the regulations would continue to comply with robust existing data protection legislation.Every response has been read and the Government thanks those respondents who expressed their views through the consultation. The devolved administrations support the proposed regulations.The Government is clear that there isn't public support for national identity cards in the UK and this is not something proposed in, or enabled by, this legislation. Where responses did engage with the specific consultation questions, they highlighted the wider potential benefits of the data sharing regulations, including to physical health and social well-being, and we will make a minor amendment on this basis. The Government has also proposed that the draft regulations would come into force 21 days after, rather than the day after, being approved by Parliament.The UK Government intends to take forward legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows. I have asked that the Government response be deposited in the libraries of both Houses in Parliament and published on GOV.UK.

Department for Education

Condition Improvement Fund Update

Baroness Barran: Today, I am announcing the allocation of almost £456 million for 1,033 Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) projects across 859 academies, sixth-form colleges and voluntary aided schools across England to maintain and improve the condition of the education estate. This funding is provided to enable schools to deliver well maintained and safe facilities that support a high-quality education. Since March 2015 CIF has delivered over 11,000 projects and continues to deliver over 1,200 projects across the school estate with essential maintenance projects. The CIF funding allocated for projects by region is: East Midlands - £41,964,017East of England - £81,316,668London - £58,711,968North East - £8,434,081North West - £58,450,018South East - £106,179,820South West - £23,104,444West Midlands - £37,930,631Yorkshire and the Humber - £39,738,336 Amounts of funding awarded to individual schools are not being published, as publishing this information would undermine the school’s ability to obtain best value from contractors. However, funding information on completed CIF projects is available to view on GOV.UK. Details of today’s announcement are being sent to all CIF applicants and a list of successful projects will be published on GOV.UK. Copies will be placed in the House Library.

Tutoring Update

Baroness Barran: My Right Honourable Friend, the Minister of State for Schools (Nick Gibb) has made thefollowing statement.The Department for Education will today announce the arrangements for the fourth and final year of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) in England, which starts in September 2023. The NTP makes available subsidised tutoring for schools as part of a Government commitment to narrowing the attainment gap and improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. By the conclusion of the programme we will have invested more than £1 billion to deliver tutoring, which evidence shows is one of the most effective ways to accelerate academic progress. Today’s announcement includes a change to funding arrangements from those previously put before the House. We have increased for the forthcoming academic year the subsidy for the programme, which means that schools can use their NTP funding to cover up to 50% of the cost of the tutoring they deliver instead of the previously announced 25%. This means that schools need to use less of their own money to be able to provide high-quality tutoring through NTP. We have made this change in response to feedback from schools and to ensure that the maximum possible amount of tutoring is delivered in academic year 2023/24. We have retained from this year the main elements of the current delivery approach, giving schools consistency to plan for next year. This will see us continue to provide schools with the flexibility to design a tutoring programme that meets the needs of their pupils through the existing three tutoring routes. While tutoring is available for all pupils, we expect schools to focus on those who are disadvantaged and in receipt of pupil premium or those who are below the expected standard or good pass in an applicable subject. This information is available to schools via the academic year 2023/24 NTP guidance, which is published today. Alongside the guidance, we have published information on the funding each school will receive and a calculator tool to support schools to plan tutoring starting in September. As we prepare for the final year of NTP, we aim to build on the success of the programme to date, which has seen over 3.4million courses delivered and close to 90% of schools participating.

Children's Social Care Update

Baroness Barran: My Honourable Friend, The Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Children, Families and Wellbeing (Claire Coutinho) has made the following statement.The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care was published a year ago today, setting out plans to reset children’s social care in England so it delivers for all the children and families it supports. This statement updates the House on progress made in implementing the recommendations set out in that Review. Around the same time as the Independent Review, two further reviews were published: the National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel’s report into the tragic deaths of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson, and the Competition and Markets Authority’s study of children’s social care. These reviews also called for urgency in bringing forward reform, specifically to ensure the child protection system keeps children safe, and the care system provides the right homes for children in the right places. Together, the three reviews provide a platform for fundamental, whole system change. My predecessor, the Member for Colchester started us on the journey towards reform a year ago. He committed in his Oral Statement to publish an ambitious and detailed implementation strategy setting out this Government’s plans for reform. The Department published plans for reform in our ‘consultation and implementation strategy: Stable Homes, Built on Love’ on 2nd February 2023. We set out how we will help families overcome challenges, keep children safe, and make sure children in care have stable loving homes, long-term loving relationships, and opportunities for a good life. Alongside this strategy, we announced £200 million investment for these reforms, which builds on an annual investment of over £10 billion in children’s social care. The Built on Love strategy and its funding cover Phase One of our reforms, addressing urgent issues and laying the foundations for wider-reaching reforms. ‘Built on Love’ sets out six pillars with actions to transform the system. We are seeking to: provide the right support at the right time, so that children thrive within their families and families stay together through our family help offer;strengthen our child protection response by getting agencies to work together in a fully integrated way, led by social workers with greater skills and knowledge;unlock the potential of kinship care so that, wherever possible, children who cannot stay with their parents are cared for by people who know and love them already;make sure the care system has the right homes for children in the right places, and that we provide children in care and care leavers with the right support to help them thrive and achieve their potential into adulthood;provide a valued, supported and highly-skilled social worker for every child who needs one; andmake sure the whole system continuously learns and improves and makes better use of evidence and data.Through this statement, I am also pleased to inform colleagues of progress against day one commitments made to this House a year ago: We committed to develop a National Children’s Social Care Framework. We have published our Framework, consulted on it, and intend to issue it as statutory guidance by the end of this year.We committed to introduce an Early Career Framework for child & family social workers, to give them the best start in the profession. We have set out plans to invest in high-quality early career development, have begun the process of writing the Framework document setting out the knowledge and skills social workers need at different stages, and recently invited local authorities to express interest in becoming early adopters of our Early Career Framework this year to help us co-design the programme.We committed to work with local authorities to recruit more foster carers. Through ‘Built on Love’ we have pledged to invest over £27 million over the next two years to recruit and retain more foster carers, and are working on plans in the North East to test targeted regional communications campaigns and invest in models that we know work.We committed to improve data sharing between safeguarding partners. We have introduced a Data and Digital Solutions Fund to help local authorities improve delivery for children and families through technology.We committed to set up a Child Protection Ministerial Group and establish a National Implementation Board. We have set up both forums to champion safeguarding at the highest levels and to receive advice, support and challenge us on the delivery of children’s social care reform. This action is only the beginning. Just last week, consultations closed on our proposals for reform, our draft Children’s Social Care National Framework and Data Dashboard, and our plan for addressing the high use of agency social workers in the workforce. Thousands of people engaged and responded to the consultations – including those with personal experience of the care system, dedicated professionals providing key services, and civil society. A Government Response will be published in September. The Prime Minister set out that building a brighter future requires us to value family, in whatever form that takes, recognising the common bond is love. Reform of children’s social care is at the heart of that brighter future. I look forward to continuing to work across both Houses, and all parties, as we lay the foundations for a new system.

Home Office

Immigration update

Lord Murray of Blidworth: My rt hon Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department (Suella Braverman) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement:The Government committed to bringing net migration down in the 2019 manifesto and remains committed to doing so. In December 2020, we ended decades of uncontrolled migration from the European Union and put in place a new points-based immigration system to give ministers full control of our borders. For the first time since we joined the EU, we gained complete control of who comes to the UK and the ability to operate an immigration system that we can flex to the changing needs of the economy and labour market, as well as tailor to the skills and talent needed by UK businesses and our NHS. But immigration is dynamic, and we must constantly iterate our approach to take account of changing migrant flows and respond to evidence of abuse or unintended consequences. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published data in November 2022 which estimated that net migration in the year June 2021 to June 2022 was at 504,000 - up significantly on the previous year, and higher than pre-Brexit volumes. They partly attributed this rise to temporary factors – such as a post-Covid surge and safe and legal routes, like the UK’s Ukraine and Hong Kong schemes. The immigration statistics also highlighted an unexpected rise in the number of dependants coming to the UK alongside international students. Around 136,000 visas were granted to dependants of sponsored students in the year ending December 2022, a more than eight-fold increase from 16,000 in 2019, when the Government’s commitment to lower net migration was made. This does not detract from the considerable success that the Government and the higher education sector have had in achieving the goals from our International Education Strategy, meeting our target to host 600,000 international students studying in the UK per year by 2030, for two years running, and earlier than planned – a success story in terms of economic value and exports. The International Education Strategy plays an important part in supporting the economy through the economic contribution students can bring to the UK, but this should not be at the expense of our commitment to the public to lower overall migration and ensure that migration to the UK is highly skilled and therefore provides the most benefit. The proposals we are announcing today will ensure that we can continue to meet our International Education Strategy commitments, while making a tangible contribution to reducing net migration to sustainable levels. The terms of the graduate route remain unchanged. Following close working with the Department for Education and HM Treasury, I am pleased to announce a package of measures to help deliver our goal of falling net migration, while supporting the Government’s priority of growing the economy. This package includes: Removing the right for international students to bring dependants unless they are on postgraduate courses currently designated as research programmes.Removing the ability for international students to switch out of the student route into work routes before their studies have been completed.Reviewing the maintenance requirements for students and dependants.Steps to clamp down on unscrupulous education agents who may be supporting inappropriate applications to sell immigration not education.Better communicating immigration rules to the higher education sector and to international students.Improved and more targeted enforcement activity. We are committed to attracting the brightest and the best to the UK. Therefore, our intention is to work with universities over the course of the next year to design an alternative approach that ensures that the best and the brightest students can bring dependants to our world leading universities, while continuing to reduce net migration. We will bring in this system as soon as possible, after thorough consultation with the sector and key stakeholders. This package strikes the right balance between acting decisively on tackling net migration and protecting the economic benefits that students can bring to the UK. Now is the time for us to make these changes to ensure an impact on net migration as soon as possible. We expect this package to have a tangible impact on net migration. Taken together with the easing of temporary factors, we expect net migration to fall to pre-pandemic levels in the medium term. We recognise that no one single measure will control immigration. As the impacts of temporary pressures becomes clearer, we will keep matters under review. The Government will seek to continue to strike the balance between reducing overall net migration with ensuring that businesses have the skills they need and we continue to support economic growth. Those affected by this package will predominantly be dependants of students who make a more limited contribution to the economy than students or those coming under the Skilled Worker route, minimising the impact on UK growth.

Publication of Forensic Information Databases Strategy Board annual report

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: My rt hon Friend the Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire (Chris Philp) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement:I am pleased to announce that I am, today, publishing the Annual Report of the Forensic Information Databases Strategy Board for 2021-22. This report covers the National DNA Database and the National Fingerprints Database. The Strategy Board Chair, DCC Ben Snuggs, has presented the Annual Report to the Home Secretary. Publication of the Report is a statutory requirement under section 63AB(8) of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 as inserted by section 24 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. The Report shows the important contribution that the National DNA and fingerprint databases (policing collections) make to supporting policing and solving crimes. I am grateful to the Strategy Board for their commitment to fulfilling their statutory functions. The Report has been laid before the House and copies will be available from the Vote Office and on GOV.UK.

Treasury

Financial services update

Baroness Penn: My honourable friend the Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Andrew Griffith) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement.I can inform the House that on 22 May 2023 the government sold c.469m shares in NatWest Group (NWG, formerly Royal Bank of Scotland) to NWG by way of a directed buyback transaction. The transaction value amounts to approximately £1.26bn, representing approximately 4.95% of the company.This announcement demonstrates the continued progress being made towards the government’s intention to return its shareholding in NWG to private ownership by 2025-26, subject to market conditions and achieving value for money for taxpayers. Following this transaction, the government’s shareholding stands at approximately 38.6%.Policy rationaleThe government is committed to returning NWG to full private ownership now that the original policy objective for the intervention in NWG – to preserve financial and economic stability at a time of crisis – has long been achieved.The government only conducts sales of NWG shares when it represents value for money to do so and market conditions allow.Directed buyback detail The government, supported by advice from UK Government Investments, concluded that selling shares to NWG, in a single bilateral transaction, represented value for money.Share buybacks are a common practice undertaken by companies looking to efficiently deploy their excess capital. NWG has shareholder approval to purchase up to 4.99% of its share capital from HMT on a rolling 12-month basis. This is the third sale of shares via an off-market share sale directly to the company and sixth large block sale of NWG shares undertaken by the government.The sale concluded on 22 May 2023, with NWG purchasing a limited number of its government owned shares. A total of approximately 469m shares (approximately 4.95% of the bank) were sold at the 19 May market closing price of 268.4p per share. The government’s shareholding now stands at approximately 38.6%. The reduction in the government’s shareholding is less than the percentage sold as NWG will cancel most of the purchased shares.Details of the sale are summarised below.Government stake in NWG pre-salec.3,949m sharesTotal shares sold to NWGc.469m sharesShare price at market close on 19/05/2023268.4pTotal proceeds from the salec.£1.26bnGovernment stake in NWG post-sale (as % of total voting rights)c.38.6%Fiscal impactsThe net impacts of the sale on a selection of fiscal metrics are summarised as follows:MetricImpactNet sale proceedsc.£1.26bnRetention value rangeWithin the valuation rangePublic Sector Net BorrowingNil. There may be future indirect impacts as a result of the sale. The sale proceeds reduce public sector debt. All else being equal, the sale will reduce future debt interest costs for government.The reduction in government’s shareholding means it will not receive future dividend income it may otherwise have been entitled to through these shares.Public Sector Net DebtReduced by c.£1.26bnPublic Sector Net Financial LiabilitiesNil Public Sector Net LiabilitiesNil

Department of Health and Social Care

Statutory Guidance for NHS England on the Protection of Confidential Patient Information

Lord Markham: Today, the Department of Health and Social Care publishes its guidance that sets out how NHS England will protect patient data, following the transfer of NHS Digital’s responsibilities. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-englands-protection-of-patient-data.On 1 February, NHS Digital legally became part of NHS England, creating a single, central authority responsible for all elements of digital technology, data and transformation for the NHS.NHS Digital was a powerful force for change in the NHS and guardian of its key data IT and data systems. These IT systems and its expert staff transferred to NHS England.Laura Wade-Gery was commissioned by the Government to lead an independent review of how we can ensure digital technology and the effective use of data is at the heart of transforming the NHS. Her report 'Putting data, digital and tech at the heart of transforming the NHS', published in November 2021, recommended merging the functions of NHS Digital into NHS England, to provide a single statutory body for data, digital and technology to provide the right leadership and support to Integrated Care Systems.This integration is an important step in bringing together in a single place, the essential systems and programmes to digitally transform the NHS, and to harness the full potential of data. It will enable health and social care services to use digital and data more effectively to deliver improved patient outcomes and address the key challenges we face.In harnessing the full potential of data to digital transform the NHS, this statutory guidance makes clear that NHS England should maintain high standards of data protection, information governance, and transparency, as NHS Digital did, to demonstrate that it is a trustworthy custodian of health and care data. NHS England must have regard to this guidance and also undertake an annual review of how effectively it has discharged the data functions transferred over from NHS Digital.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Elections Act: Postal and proxy voting safeguards

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: Today I have published the draft statutory instrument “The Representation of the People (Postal and Proxy Voting etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2023” with an accompanying explanatory memorandum. An impact assessment has been drafted and will be available when a draft of the statutory instrument is laid.The changes set out in these regulations deliver on our manifesto commitment to protect the integrity of our democracy, as legislated for by Parliament through the Elections Act 2022. It is paramount that we preserve trust in our electoral processes and ensure elections remain secure well into the future. The Elections Act stemmed from recommendations made by (then) Sir Eric Pickles and his review into tackling electoral fraud. Voter identification has already been commenced; these regulations now commence provisions relating to postal and proxy voting.Under these regulations, we are introducing appropriate safeguards to reduce the opportunity for individuals to exploit the absent voting process and steal votes. The new measures limit the total number of electors for whom a person may act as a proxy to four, of which no more than two can be for ‘domestic’ electors for all constituencies or electoral areas.To further strengthen the security of the ballot, an identity check will be introduced for all applications for an absent vote. This change will apply to applications made on paper and online and bring the absent vote application process in line with the Individual Electoral Registration ‘Register to Vote’ process. This change accompanies a new requirement to reapply for a postal vote at least every three years, replacing the current five-year signature and date of birth refresh. Transitional processes will be in place for electors with existing postal or proxy vote arrangements.These regulations will also support the delivery of a new digital service which will enable electors to apply for a postal or proxy arrangement online. The Government anticipates that an online service will alleviate some of the pre-existing challenges for electors and electoral administrators, by reducing the need to rely on manual processes. The online service is currently being built and will be tested to ensure it is robust and accessible for electors.Although this statutory instrument does not directly relate to Brexit, it does make amendments to 2001 regulations which were made in part under the European Communities Act. In that light, the statutory instrument is published in accordance with the procedure required by Schedule 8 to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and agreed with Parliament. The statutory instrument is being published in draft at least 28 days before being laid in draft to be considered under the affirmative procedure in Parliament.These Regulations will apply to UK Parliamentary elections and other reserved elections, referendums and recall petitions. Local elections in Scotland, and local elections in Wales apart from Police and Crime Commissioner elections, are devolved, and thus not in scope of these measures.

Planning for accommodation for looked after children

Baroness Scott of Bybrook: My Honourable friend the Minister of State for Housing and Planning (Rachel Maclean MP) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement:I, with the support of my Rt Hon colleague the Secretary of State for Education, wish to set out the Government’s commitment to support the development of accommodation for looked after children, and its delivery through the planning system.The planning system should not be a barrier to providing homes for the most vulnerable children in society. When care is the best choice for a child, it is important that the care system provides stable, loving homes close to children’s communities. These need to be the right homes, in the right places with access to good schools and community support. It is not acceptable that some children are living far from where they would call home (without a clear child protection reason for this), separated from the people they know and love.Today we use this joint statement to remind Local Planning Authorities that, as set out in paragraph 62 of the National Planning Policy Framework, local planning authorities should assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community and reflect this in planning policies and decisions. Local planning authorities should consider whether it is appropriate to include accommodation for children in need of social services care as part of that assessment.Local planning authorities should give due weight to and be supportive of applications, where appropriate, for all types of accommodation for looked after children in their area that reflect local needs and all parties in the development process should work together closely to facilitate the timely delivery of such vital accommodation for children across the country. It is important that prospective applicants talk to local planning authorities about whether their service is needed in that locality, using the location assessment (a regulatory requirement and part of the Ofsted registration process set out in paragraph 15.1 of the Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations) to demonstrate this.To support effective delivery, unitary authorities should work with commissioners to assess local need and closely engage to support applications, where appropriate, for accommodation for looked after children as part of the authority's statutory duties for looked after children. In two tier authorities, we expect local planning authorities to support these vital developments where appropriate, to ensure that children in need of accommodation are provided for in their communities.Children’s homes developmentsPlanning permission will not be required in all cases of development of children’s homes, including for changes of use from dwelling houses in Class C3 of the Use Classes Order 1987 where the children’s home remains within Class C3 or there is no material change of use to Class C2. An application to the local planning authority can be made for a lawful development certificate to confirm whether, on the facts of the case, the specific use is or would be lawful. Where a Certificate is issued, a planning application would not be required for the matters specified in the certificate.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: My Honourable Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (Leo Docherty) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement:The Hon. Member for Birmingham, Northfield (Gary Sambrook MP) has been appointed as a full representative of the United Kingdom Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in place of the Hon. Member for Yeovil (Marcus Fysh MP).

Membership of the UK-EU Parliamentary Partnership Assembly (PPA)

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: My Honourable Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (Leo Docherty) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement:The Hon. Member for Wimbledon (Stephen Hammond MP) has been appointed as a full representative of the Parliamentary Partnership Assembly in place of the Hon. Member for Dudley South (Mike Wood MP). The Hon. Member for Northampton South (Andrew Lewer MP) has been appointed as a full representative of the Parliamentary Partnership Assembly. The Rt Hon. Member for Chelmsford (Vicky Ford MP) has been appointed as a full representative of the Parliamentary Partnership Assembly in place of the Hon. Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Andrew Bowie MP). The Hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (David Duguid MP) has been appointed as a full representative of the Parliamentary Partnership Assembly in place of the Hon. Member for Wolverhampton South West (Stuart Anderson MP). The Baroness Meyer CBE has been appointed as a full representative of the Parliamentary Partnership Assembly in place of the Lord Godson. The Hon. Member for Stirling (Alyn Smith MP) has been appointed as a full representative of the Parliamentary Partnership Assembly in place of the Hon. Member for Central Ayrshire (Dr Philippa Whitford MP).